Heart Of A Wolf
by MagicMemories
Summary: They have a duty to protect their town, their people and their home. But it's not just the common criminals that threaten it. In the town of Rosewood, the fairytales and legends come out to play. Emison story featuring Spoby, Ezria and Haleb.
1. Cheat Sheet

**Hi guys! I've got a new story coming soon! It's an AU story with one of my own characters. This story is completely AU but it features Brittany from Jailbirds. It doesn't follow the Jailbirds storyline so there are no spoilers here. There is however a lot of information to remember so I've created this cheat sheet to help with all the information that's important to the story and also so you guys have a general understanding of what this story is going to be.**

 **Alison:**

The Alpha of the pack.

She first experienced the change 3 years ago and was so frightened of what was happening to her that she left Rosewood for two years looking for answers. As the first to go through the change, she becomes the Alpha.

Alison's wolf is the largest, due to her being the Alpha. Her fur colour is white and grey with blue eyes.

When the pack is completely formed, Alison is granted the Alpha's voice, the ability to force her pack to obey her commands, wether they want to or not. However, due to the bond she has with her pack, and the respect they have for each other, she rarely uses it.

Alison is able to read a person's 'aura'. In able to get a sense of who they are. It can be very vague and she finds it works better the better she knows the person. A complete stranger is hard for Alison to read, and she can only really tell their basic nature.

At the beginning of the story, Alison is the only member of the pack who is able to safely control fire. This is due to her ability to tap into her anger, without letting it consume her, something the others are still learning how to do.

 **Brittany:**

Alison's adopted sister.

First met Alison while she was running away from an abusive home life. Alison had left her own home and was searching for answers about her transformation. Alison took care of Brittany, who in turn became her companion as she looked for answers. Due to her close connection to Alison, Brittany underwent the transformation and became the second member to change. She moved in with Alison, and officially changed her name to DiLaurentis.

Brittany's wolf is a dark golden brown colour with blue/green eyes. She has the best hearing in the pack.

When the pack is fully formed, Brittany is given the power to read minds. They have to be within close proximity to her and she hates crowded places like the mall because all the voices can give her a headache.

Her abusive childhood has left her with scars, at times she finds her emotions hard to control and is the easiest to anger.

As a result of her unstable emotions, Brittany will never be able to safely control the fire element. It's extremely dangerous for her even to try. As a result, she's had an Alpha's order placed on her that she is never to even consider trying. She tries to compensate by focusing on the other elements. She is the best in the pack at controlling water.

Brittany acts as Alison's bodyguard, shadowing her sister and protecting her at all costs. This irritates Alison, as Brittany always seems to put Alison's safety before her own, and has had several close calls as a result.

 **Emily:**

Alison's girlfriend and the strongest member of the pack.

She was always emotionally connected to Alison before her lover left and she transformed immediately after coming of age, which compelled Alison and Brittany to return to Rosewood.

Her wolf is russet brown with chocolate eyes. She is physically the strongest in both wolf and human form.

Following the pack's completion, Emily gains the ability to control the emotions of the people around her. She finds it easier to control the emotions of humans as opposed to her sisters because their emotions are more intense and it takes more energy to control.

As the 'Peacekeeper' of the group, Emily's emotions are the most stable, though she can't control her anger the same way Alison can. Alison can harness her anger, Emily shuts it down. She can control fire, but it is weak and unpredictable and she prefers simply not to, favouring the water and wind elements.

 **Hanna:**

Emily's best friend and pack 'Hunter'

She experienced the change while walking along the cliffs of Rosewood heights, a popular walking spot, and fell into the lake. Alison pulled her out and Hanna immediately joined the pack.

Her wolf is blonde with blue eyes. She has the best sense of smell and often leads the way when tracking and hunting.

She's the best in the pack at handling the wind element.

Hanna has the ability to make anyone like her instantly, it works better with males than females. She never used it with her boyfriend, wanting him to love her naturally.

 **Spencer:**

Alison's cousin.

Her transformation happened after a drug overdose nearly killed her. Her body underwent the transformation in order to burn off the drugs to save her life. Due to her genetic link to the Alpha, however, she would have likely witnessed the change anyway, it just happened earlier than expected.

Her wolf is jet black with hazel eyes. She has the best sense of sight.

Spencer has the ability to make herself invisible to her targets. It is only an illusion however, she can only make them not able to see her in their minds while she is still there physically. She is the stealth expert of the pack. Able to silently sneak up on her enemies. However it takes a lot of energy to make herself invisible, and doing it for too long could cause her to pass out from exhaustion.

She's the smartest of the group and has a burning desire to know everything about what they are.

Spencer is most comfortable with the element of earth. She has been known to use fire, but in more of a lava way than actual flame, making the risk slightly less as it's not true fire.

 **Aria:**

Spencer's best friend and the newest member of the pack.

Her transformation occurred the day she returned to Rosewood from living overseas for a year. When she joined, the pack was completed and all were given their gifts.

Aria's wolf is black and grey with green eyes. She is the smallest, both wolf and human, but she's also the fastest.

Aria can create illusions in people's minds. She can make them see whatever she wants them to see. She has to make physical contact with a person in order to do it. Her sisters in the pack are immune to it however, for reasons that nobody has yet been able to work out.

Unlike the others, Aria has no favoured element. She has focused her time on all elements equally, and is very skilled in wind, water and earth. She finds fire difficult, and it is unsafe for her to use it still, but she is at less risk than the rest of the pack.

Aria's water control is better than Spencer, Hanna or Alison; but is behind Emily and Brittany.

Her wind control is beaten only by Hanna, but equal with Emily.

Spencer is the only member of the pack who is better at controlling earth.

 **Elements**

Fire: Alison-Aria-Spencer-Emily-Hanna-Brittany

Water: Brittany-Emily-Aria-Alison-Hanna-Spencer

Wind: Hanna-Aria/Emily-Brittany/Spencer/Alison

Earth: Spencer-Aria-Brittany-Hanna-Alison-Emily

 **The Pack:**

The only official rank in the pack is Alpha, held by Alison. While other packs tend to have a more structured hierarchy, she chose not to, seeing them all as equals. However Emily is considered the 'unofficial beta' by the others, not just due to her relationship with Alison but also because of her role as the pack's 'Peacekeeper'.

In their human form, they are all extremely strong, able to lift up to a tonne with ease. Emily is able to lift 1.2 tonnes, giving her the advantage. Their wolf forms are just as strong, if not more. However, Emily still holds the edge.

They can run up to 80mph in their human forms, their wolves can double that. Aria is able to do 95mph in her human form and her wolf can double her human speed.

Their body temperature adapts to the climate they are in. It will keep them warm in the cold and cool in the heat but also stop them from overheating.

They are immune to disease and illness, their body heat will adapt to burn off any substances that enter their bloodstream.

Minor injuries will heal in a matter of minutes, while severe injuries like broken bones only take a few days to heal.

They can go up to 7 days without sleep without experiencing fatigue.

In their wolf forms, they can hear each others thoughts. However in their human forms they can only communicate telepathically over a very short distance, and only thoughts they want the others to hear. It is similar to speaking aloud. The only exception is Brittany, who is able to hear anybody's thoughts, not just her sister's. However in order to give her pack mates some privacy, she has learned to shut them out in their human forms.

They each wear the pack's mark, a black background with the white outline of a wolf's face, while in their human forms. Alison has a pendent, Brittany wears it on a wrist cuff, Hanna has a ring, Spencer and Aria wear it on a bracelet and Emily on an anklet.

All of their wolves are significantly larger than any normal wolf.


	2. Justified Rage

"I'm still not comfortable with this, Aria. I know you have basic control over it, but you have no idea what could happen if you slip even for a second. The tiniest spark could set a freakin' house on fire!"

"Right now, all I can get is the tiniest spark."

Alison knew the risk she was taking by even trying to help Aria improve her control, but she would rather Aria practice with her around to supervise than do it in secret. Fire was the most unstable element to control. In order to have a decent flame, you have to harness the anger in your soul, but you have to keep the balance. You need to stay focused. Alison could do it because she had been an angry person since she was a child, but her two years in exile had made her into a kinder, more gentle person. As a result, she had the perfect balance.

"It takes time. You need to be able to feel your anger, control your flame, and stay focused all at the same time."

"Yeah…. Ali?" She figured now was as good a time as any to reveal her true motives for asking Alison to train.

Alison spun around to face her. "Yeah?"

Aria gave her a sheepish look. She hadn't been in the pack for more than two months, she still didn't understand a lot of her new life. She had a lot of questions. "The Alpha's Order, how does it work?"

Alison tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she gestured with her head to a nearby rock. She saunters over to it, Aria close behind. They both sit down and Alison quickly places her hand on Aria's knee. "It's main purpose is to keep our existence a secret."

Aria cocked her head to the side, confused. "It's main purpose?"

Alison swallowed thickly. "The first wolf in a town always becomes the Alpha, so that when the rest of the pack undergoes the transformation, they can be kept under control. The transformation is always hardest for the Alpha because they go through it completely alone. I locked myself up in an abandoned basement in Philly for 6 months, practicing shifting over and over and making sure I could control myself."

"Could you?"

"Eventually, but in a state of high distress, it's much harder to control. Like it is with all of us."

"So… The Alpha's Order?"

"Like I said, it's main purpose is to stop any new wolves from losing control and exposing us all. I shift, use my Voice to force them to shift. If I use my Voice on a shifted wolf, they can't disobey it, even if they want to. It's literally impossible."

"You've used it once?"

Alison nodded. "Only once."

"On Brittany?" Aria tried to hide the judgement in her voice. Nobody could hide anything from Alison though.

"Aria… You don't understand. When I found her, she was practically starved to death. The life she came from, is worse than anything we can imagine. That's left scars that run deep. She can't control her emotions and it tires Emily to try and keep her contained all the time. Her flames, could have the potential to burn entire cities down. Not to mention it would kill her. I had no choice."

Aria was horrified that such destruction could be caused by an element she had been experimenting with. "So… she just can't use it?"

"No." Alison shook her head. "She can't even consider using it."

"What does that mean? What's the difference?"

Alison leaned forward, staring Aria in the eyes. "It means she literally can't go down that thought line. She can wish she could use it, but she can't think about trying to use it or control it. Her train of thought will not allow her to go there. I couldn't leave any wriggle room. There has to be no way around it. Too much at risk."

Aria nodded. "I understand, but I still don't like it."

Alison's hand went to her shoulder. "Trust me, neither do I. I hated forcing her to bow down to me, but-"

Alison was cut off by their ears picking up the sound of footsteps speeding towards them, too fast to be human.

"Alison!" Spencer's voice rang through the clearing. Alison and Aria both jumped to their feet as Spencer burst into vision, eyes wide with panic. Alison was immediately on edge.

"Spence, what is it?" Alison's tone was nervous. She knew that whatever had gotten Spencer so worked up, must be serious.

"Hanna's picked up Brittany's scent, it looks like she was on her way here but then suddenly she changed direction. She knocked a tree down in the process and her bag was left near it. Hanna's tracking her with Emily. Whatever's happened, she's pissed."

Alison turned to look at Aria with wide eyes. "Go catch up to them. We'll follow." Aria took off as fast as her legs could carry her without another word.

Alison turned quickly to look at Spencer, who gave her a slight nod, and they took off running also. Alison followed Spencer's scent for a few miles before it was blurred with a much more familiar one. Alison was most in tune with Emily's scent, as the brunette was her mate. She focused on the smell she normally loved to bask in, and followed it. Hoping they were not too late.

They'd lost sight of Aria by now, the little brunette had hopefully caught up with Hanna and Emily. Spencer and Alison were only roughly thirty seconds behind them; but Alison knew that for an angry wolf, that was more than enough.

Her super-hearing picked up the sounds of a fight some few miles ahead. Knowing they were close, she willed her body to go faster, every second could be crucial. Within seconds, she burst into a clearing in the woods; taking a millisecond to assess her surroundings.

Hanna was crouched defensively over a male that Alison did not recognise, but she could see he was bruised, bloody and seemingly unconscious. Emily and Aria were doing their best to restrain Brittany on the other side of the clearing. The younger girl was making sure to keep them at least an arms length away, clearly too angry to be reasoned with.

Her and Spencer arrived just in time to see Emily land a solid kick to Brittany's gut that sent her flying fifteen feet into the air. A horrible shredding sound filled the air, followed by a roar as the golden brown wolf landed on her feet, snapping her canine jaw and growling menacingly in Emily's direction.

Alison didn't even bother to remove her expensive leather jacket, she had to get this situation under control now. She let the tingling feeling that always ran through her spine ripple through her skin, tearing flesh as it went to allow grey and white fur to settle in it's place. She felt her skeleton readjust and she landed on her front paws.

She blinked a couple of times to allow her eyes to adjust to the sharpness that her vision now possessed before dashing to get in between Brittany and Emily, who was still in human form. She stopped right in front of her sister, who didn't seem to have noticed Alison's presence before this moment, and watched as Brittany's eyes narrowed at the sight of Alison.

She didn't need to read Brittany's aura to know she was incensed, but she needed to see how difficult this way going to be. She really didn't want to use The Alpha's Voice, but she knew it might be necessary. Alison's closeness to her pack allowed her to be able to see the detailed elements that make up their general and mood auras.

Brittany's general aura remained as it always was; positive blue, showing her intelligence and trust. Positive pink, showing the love she had for all her sisters .A large amount of negative grey, the scars her previous life had left.

Brittany's mood aura, though, was a different story. It was almost pure negative red, demonstrating her aggression and defiance. Alison was surprised to see that it was also laced with negative yellow, highlighting irrationality.

Alison snarled at her **. "Enough**."

The voice's echo, that only the Alpha possessed, stopped Brittany in her tracks. She bared her teeth at her sister. Alison could tell from Brittany's erratic thoughts that she was not thinking clearly. Flashes of the events that lead up to this soared through Brittany's mind as she tried to think of a way to get past Alison and finish of the unknown man Hanna was still guarding.

From what Alison could gather, she had been on her way to their house after going to The Brew for coffee when the faint whispers of a person's thoughts caught her attention. He was too far away for her to hear clearly, but she heard enough to be concerned. Based on the recollection that Alison was reliving through their telepathic link, Brittany had caught the words 'alcohol' and 'drugs' and 'party' along with 'teach her to tease me like that' and had abruptly changed course in order to get closer and hear more clearly. After getting close enough to hear the man's intentions, along with his proud recall of performing similar actions in the past, Brittany had snapped.

She arrived just as the man had been placing his fishing gear back into his pickup truck and had dragged him by his shaggy hair into the clearing so as to prevent anyone seeing her, and had proceeded to beat him to a bloody pulp. She was adamant in making sure he would never be able to hurt another person, much less a teenager, ever again.

She was just about to put an end to him when Hanna and Emily had shown up and Emily had tackled her from where she had been on top of the bastard. Alison could tell that Brittany was aware of the repercussions for killing somebody, but in that moment, she did not care.

Brittany snapped her jaw defiantly at Alison **. "Get out of my way, Ali. Now**!" Brittany wanted nothing more than to snap the sick bastard's neck. She was still so enraged that all rational thought escaped her.

Alison stood to her full height, using her size advantage to look down on Brittany. " **I understand, Britt. I do. But think about what you're doing!"**

" **Oh I know exactly what I'm doing! He's a predator, Ali**!" Brittany tried to sidestep her, but Alison had heard her consider it and was ready to move at the same time to block her. Behind her, she could feel the air ripple around her and knew that Emily was doing what she could to help calm Brittany down.

She focused back on her sister **. "Yes he is. And he might deserve it. I don't care about what happens to him, I care about what happens to you**!" Alison hoped Brittany could feel her desperation, could sense what she was trying to say. **"You know what happens to a wolf who kills a human!"** She felt a tinge of fear in the back of Brittany's mind, the aura around Brittany started to change. The fiery red lessened and Brittany's senses started to return to her. Emily's skill was to be admired.

Brittany looked at Alison with wide eyes and whined **. "We can't let him go, he has no remorse. He will continue to prey on people. We have no choice**!" Alison braced herself in case Brittany tried to get past her again, but the other wolf was just staring at her with helpless eyes. Alison could hear, through Brittany, the thought's of the man as Brittany had approached him. His thoughts had been smug about how clever and believable he was and how he had even been able to convince some of his victims that they had just imagined the whole thing.

Alison had to pause for a second and breathe to get her own anger in check. Brittany noticed this and couldn't help but feel a little vindicated.

Alison raised her head once again to look at her **. "We are not letting him go. We'll take him to Rosewood PD and hand him over to Toby,"**

Brittany growled at this **. "The only evidence is in his head, Ali! They can't exactly pick through his brain the way I did!"**

 **"Are his victims local?"**

Brittany rapidly began to flip through all the thoughts she had picked up before nearly killing him, looking for anything that could indicate if these attacks had happened in Rosewood. She was flicking through them so fast, Alison couldn't keep up. She suddenly stopped at a particular memory he had been reliving as he packed up his car. The memory formed a picture in Brittany's mind, that Alison could see as well. He was sitting in a diner with a girl, who couldn't be older than 16, thinking about how nice the dress he had bought for her looked. Alison and Brittany both recognised the diner as the Rosewood Grill **.**

Brittany nodded **. "At least one of them is."**

 **"Got a name?"**

 **"Maya St Germain."**

 **"So we give him to Toby, along with the name so they can question her**."

Brittany huffed in annoyance, but she had calmed down enough to know better than to argue with Alison **. "Fine. But let me take him."**

Alison already knew that was a bad idea, but seeing Brittany visualize hitting his head on every tree possible as she carried him on her back just cemented that belief **. "Oh no. I don't think so. Emily is going to take you home. We'll talk more when I get back."**

 **"But-"**

 **"Brittany,"** Alison cut her off firmly. **"Emily is taking you home, the rest of us will take him to Toby. End of story. Understand?"**

Brittany lowered her head to look at the ground, ashamed. Now that she had calmed down, she was horrified by how badly she had lost control, even if the scumbag had deserved it. **"Yes, Alpha."**

Alison felt her anguish and padded closer to Brittany, giving her a gentle nudge with her snout **. "Hey** ," Brittany looked up at her, hearing Ali's tone change to be more gentle **. "I understand. I know it's hard. But I never want to see you go through the Ritual."** Brittany's thoughts turned to dread at the mention of the Ritual. Alison decided to stop the train of thought before it caused Brittany any more despair **. "He's alive, Britt. You haven't killed him. I'll make sure he gets put away for what he has done, but he's alive. You're not going to go through the Ritual."**

Brittany was only slightly reassured **. "You promise Toby will be able to lock him up?"**

Alison nodded **. "Spencer and I will take care of it. Go home. I'll be there soon."** Brittany nodded, and started to walk towards the edge of the clearing.

Alison turned around and gave Emily a pointed look. The brunette knew what that look meant and immediately began to remove her clothes. Nobody batted an eyelid when she was finished, nudity was just a part of pack life. A moment later, the russet brown wolf stood before Alison.

Alison replayed the conversation so that Emily could hear and see what she and Brittany had discussed, she was amazed when Emily's thoughts were ones of disgust as opposed to anger like they had experienced. Then again, Emily had better control over her feelings than any of them.

Alison gave her mate a serious look **. "Take her home, make sure she stays calm. This has shaken her a lot."**

Emily nodded **. "I noticed**."

 **"I'll be back soon, then we can watch a movie and cuddle after the three of us talk. Deal**?" Alison cocked her head to the side, ears upright in a playful expression.

She heard Brittany trying to work out if there was a double meaning behind the words 'watch a movie' and wonder if she should sleep outside in her wolf form tonight. She mentally smirked at her sister, pleased that she was calm enough now to be thinking about how to avoid the noises of Alison and Emily's 'bedroom activities'.

Emily's thoughts however, were right up that alley. She began to think about making out with Ali on the couch and was only stopped when Brittany growled lightly at her. Sometimes this hearing-each-other's-thoughts thing really sucked.

Emily blinked a few times before refocusing **. "Sure, looking forward to it."**

Alison nodded **. "Get going, you two. I'll see you at home**." With that, Emily and Brittany took off in the direction of their house.

Alison gave a sigh of relief _. Crisis over_. She pulled herself back together, pulling the ripple back to her spine before standing up, human again, and walking over to the pile of Emily's clothes that had been left behind and began putting them on. They didn't quite fit, but they would have to do seeing as her own clothes got shredded when she shifted. She walked over to the still unconscious man, before unceremoniously dumping him over her shoulder. She turned to face the questioning glances of the rest of her pack, who had not been able to hear the conversation as they had remained in human form. "I'll explain on the way, follow me." They all immediately fell into step behind the Alpha.

-x-

 **I had to get the plot going before I could get to the Emison goodness! That's coming next chapter! So what do you think so far? Leave me a review with your feedback! Love you guys!**


	3. The Ritual

"I don't understand how you can find chopping wood therapeutic."

"The same way you find beating up punching bags therapeutic." Emily responded with a smile.

"I figured I could find a non-harmful way to release my anger and practice my fighting technique at the same time."

"Did it help you nearly beat that creep to death yesterday?"

Brittany raised an eyebrow at her before picking up another log and placing it on the block. She took a deep breath before raising the axe above her head and bringing it down hard enough to make a divot in the block…again. She cursed loudly. She needed to stop doing that. Alison constantly reminded them to watch their strength, especially in the presence of humans.

Alison, Emily and Brittany had it easier than the others did. They lived together in the DiLaurentis house. Ken and Jessica had divorced shortly after Alison and Brittany had returned to Rosewood. They had both moved in with their new partners. Ken was in Florida, Jessica in New York. Alison and Brittany kept in contact, and occasionally visited them. Emily moved in with them after she made it official. They didn't need to hide their nature.

Brittany threw the chopped wood so the side before glaring at Emily. "I didn't mean for it to happen. But, once I heard what was in his head, I couldn't stop myself."

Emily frowned. "Why did it make you so angry? I mean, I've felt your anger many times, this was different. It was like, a combination of anger and pain that turned into fury."

Brittany scoffed. "He was a predator, Emily. He preyed on teenage girls and young women. Is it too hard to believe that I just despise those people as you do?!"

"We've dealt with people like him before. You've never reacted like that."

Brittany's eyes were wide now, Emily could feel her emotions rising. It wasn't anger, like Emily had expected. Instead, it was… panic?! "You don't have to hear the vile, disgusting things that go through their heads. I hear how they plan out their attacks, how they wander the malls looking for their next victim. How all they see are prizes to be claimed, not human beings! They're scum, Emily! This town is better off without them!"

Emily was taken aback. "I agree with you, Britt. That doesn't change the fact that we have dealt with similar people before, but this one got under your skin in a way others haven't!" She was determined to break through Brittany's walls. She didn't want to see her in pain, Brittany had experienced enough suffering for a lifetime.

Then it hit her. Emily paused thoughtfully. "Did it have something to do with your past?"

Brittany anxiously glanced from side to side, seemingly very uncomfortable suddenly. She did not want to have this conversation. Only Alison knew the whole story. It wasn't that she didn't trust the others, she trusted them with her life. She just hated reliving it, it was too painful. She could tell Emily wasn't going to budge though. "You wouldn't understand…"

Emily folded her arms across her chest. "Try me."

Brittany sighed. Aside from Alison, she was closer to Emily than anyone else in the pack, even though they were all extremely close. There were some things, however, that she hadn't discussed with the pack. Alison had been trying to convince her to open up to the rest of them. Brittany always told her that she just wasn't ready.

She wasn't deaf to Emily's thoughts, she had just learned to shut them out to give them their privacy. She could read their minds if she chose to, but she believed that they deserved some privacy; given that they could all hear each other when they were in their wolf form. She knew Emily had been wondering about her past for some time now.

She rolled her eyes. "My father met my mother at a frat party in college. He was always a scumbag, even back then. He acted like he was smitten with her, danced with her and then she passed out. The way she told it to me, she woke up the next morning with no recollection of what had happened the night before, with no clothes on." Emily gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. " He assured her that she had just gotten really sick and he had taken her clothes off to try and cool her down. She believed him because she cared about him… Right up until she found out she was pregnant."

"So… what happened then?"

"He was angry, blamed her for getting pregnant. He was stuck with her now, his parents wouldn't let him abandon her after getting her pregnant. It's a miracle that he didn't kill me, because he beat her often. All through my life, that's what he did. Everything was her fault. Even if he lost money gambling, while she stayed at home and cooked and cleaned for him, he would blame her for losing the money. He was a drunk, a drug user and a gambler. Oh, and a wife beater. Father of the year right?"

"Where's your mom now?"

Brittany looked away, Emily could see she was trying to hide a tear. "One day, he was angry because the rent hadn't been paid. He pushed her down the stairs. She… she hit her head." Emily couldn't hide her own tears. "I ran away that night. There was nothing left for me there."

"Britt…" Emily was speechless, what could you say? "I'm so sorry."

Brittany waved her off. "It's in the past, where I want it to say." She said in a tone that indicated that this conversation was over. She picked up another log and set it on the block. "Let's just get these cut for tonight."

-x-

That night, the whole pack was seated around the campfire listening to Hanna tell some story about a celebrity she bumped into coming about of Prada in New York. Alison was sitting on Emily's lap, paying no attention to the conversation. They were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else.

Brittany was gazing into the fire, watching intently as the flames danced about. She couldn't help but by fascinated by it. It was the one element that she couldn't understand. She focused so much of her efforts on water, she never really thought much about the others. Her wind control was basic, she could only perform the basic 'wind blast' as they called it. Her earth control was rudimentary at best. She meant to work on both of them, but she wanted to be as useful to the pack as she could. The more she worked on perfecting her water control, the more useful she could be. Fire was…..

She couldn't be angry at Alison for placing an Alpha's Order on her. She knew, better than anyone, the risk that she posed if she ever tried to control fire. She was more angry at herself for not being able to control her anger. Alison did what she had to do to protect Rosewood and their family. Brittany would never blame her for that.

Aria sat silently next to Spencer, observing the atmosphere. This was the first time she had experienced a 'round the fire' evening with the pack. Sometimes, she can't help but think that the rest forget how new to all this she is. She was completely integrated into the pack, but there was a lost of firsts she still had to experience. Three days ago, they had all gone on a run in their wolf forms. It had been a fun day of racing, play fighting and testing out their skills in both their forms. Their enhanced senses had taken some getting used to, they were all still exploring their new bodies and abilities.

The others were great in answering all her questions. They understood just how much all this was to take on. They all remember their own transformations. It was always sudden, there was no warning. Your first shift was out of your control, it was the moment you went from being a regular human to a supernatural being. They had done all they could to help Aria through her experience.

There was one thing in particular that she had been hearing a lot about since yesterday. So she decided to take this moment to ask about it.

"Guys…" She started quietly. She wasn't sure how to ask this question. "What's 'The Ritual' about?"

Everyone froze. The question was enough to even pull Alison away from Emily's lips. All eyes turned to Spencer, she was the one who dedicated her spare time to finding out everything she could about their nature and what exactly they were. She would be the best to explain it.

Spencer cleared her throat. "You know how all the fantasy stories have werewolves effected by the full moon in some way?"

Aria nodded. "But we can shift at will? We aren't affected by the full moon at all?"

"They knew we were involved with the full moon in some way, but they kind of botched the truth and it just became the accepted story that werewolves turn on a full moon," Spencer paused, trying to work out how to best explain this. "We have a duty to protect our home and our people. We are designed to protect it from any threat we could face. Which is why we are so powerful. However, there is always a chance of someone with this kind of power will abuse it. So 'The Moon Ritual' or 'The Ritual of Penance' is the price we pay if we ever kill a human."

Aria was stunned. "What happens?"

Alison was the one to speak this time. "It's horrible. You don't even need to kill a human on purpose. Even if it's a complete accident, you'll go through the ritual anyway. On the next full moon after you kill them, your body is put through unimaginable pain. A thousand times worse than swimming in acid. All your bones break and heal, only to be broken again. It goes on until the sun rises. You'll be fighting the entire time to stop a shift. It's instinct for us to shift in a time like that, in order to better defend ourselves. You can't though. If you shift during the ritual, you become feral until the sun rises, completely lost to your wolf." Alison pauses to take a deep breath, just the thought of any member of her pack going through it was enough to break her heart.

"It won't kill you, it'll just make you feel like you're dying. It's the worst pain a wolf can ever experience, given that we are built to be very hard to hurt or kill, and it's our greatest deterrent to kill a human." Spencer finished.

Aria took some time to process the information. It made sense to her, that beings with their power and capability needed a deterrent to stop them from abusing such power and neglecting their duty. On the other hand, it seemed so… barbaric. "Have any of you guys gone through it?" Everyone shook their heads. Aria turned to Alison. "How do you know so much about it?"

Alison spoke up again. "Before Brittany and I came back to Rosewood, I'd spent two years looking for answers about what was happening to me. Two months after I met Britt, we came across an old tribe in Arizona. There was a pack there that had stopped shifting decades ago, so they had begun to age again. They do not want to be disturbed, Spencer, so no you cannot go and ask them a million questions." Spencer had been opening her mouth to ask that exact question, and hung her head, dejected. "One of their wolves had accidentally killed a teenager. He described it to us." Brittany nodded her head, agreeing with Alison. "Apparently, the Alpha has to stay with them if they have any hopes of resisting a shift. I never want to go through that with any of you."

They all nodded. An uncomfortable silence fell over them as they all thought over what had been discussed. Only the sound of the fire crackling could be heard in the DiLaurentis backyard.

-x-

Hours later, Alison smirked as she heard Emily moan into her mouth. Her naked body was wrapped around Emily's equally naked body as they shared tender, chaste kisses. Emily had both her hands ensnarled in Alison's hair while Alison had hers around Emily's shoulders. She had been digging her nails into Emily's tan skin, which had caused Emily to make the sound she loved to hear.

Tonight was a quiet night for them. There was no sex tonight, which was unusual for them. This was a different type of intimacy. Alison loved this time with her lover just as much as she loved making love to her girl. She adored the delicious skin on skin contact, the soft kisses and the gentle touches.

She pulled away for a moment to look into Emily's gorgeous brown eyes. "I think we should all wolf it tomorrow. Do some running. Maybe some element training. Practice some hand-to-hand combat. I think we could all blow off some steam before school starts again on Monday."

Emily nodded, fingering the pendant around the blonde's neck that held their pack symbol. "Sounds good. I need to do some wind training with Hanna, anyway."

Alison smiled softly, grabbing Emily's hand and bringing it to her mouth to kiss each digit. "We should go deep into the woods, past the kissing rock of we're going to practice. We need to make sure nobody will stumble across us."

Emily smirked. "The Kissing Rock?"

Alison widened her eyes. "Genius, babe. It's miles away from town."

Emily raised her eyebrow, "Does that mean I can still get some kisses tomorrow even if you're in Alpha mode?"

Alison was about to respond when a voice in their head interrupted them, as clear as if it was being spoken to them **. "When has that stopped you two before? Seriously?!"**

They both laughed out loud, amused that Brittany had obviously been listening in her bedroom next door **. "Go to sleep, eavesdropper**." Alison projected.

 **"Not as easy as it sounds with you two going at it next door."**

They both laughed as Brittany continued to grumble about 'respecting your neighbours'. Eventually, they just ignored her and Emily pressed her lips to Alison's once again. The kiss lead to another, which lead to another, which continued into the early hours of the morning.

-x-

 **A/N: SPOILER: At least TWO members of the pack will experience The Ritual at some point in this story! There will be other supernatural beings in this story but I made the decision to not introduce them straight away. I wanted to establish each person's role in the pack and how they function and what their skills are. The antagonists will be both human and supernatural. I've got the basic plot of this story established but there is going to be sub-plots as well. How are you guys liking the story? Please R &R and PM me with any questions you may have! Love you all x**


	4. AN and Q&A

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry that this isn't a new chapter, It's about halfway finished so expect it within the next few days! So I thought I would take this time while I'm still writing the next chapter to answer some questions I've been getting in my PM's! I've been trying to answer them but I thought it would be easier to do it this way.**

 **-x-**

 **The Ritual:**

At least two of our girls will undergo the ritual at some point. Could be more.

I was asked if Alison can use The Alpha's Order to prevent a shift during the ritual, seeing as the girls have no choice but to obey an Alpha's Order. This isn't a plot hole. I've left it open on purpose.

The origins of the ritual will be revealed.

Yes, the girls can all shift at will. However if they are undergoing the ritual, their bodies try to force a shift to help with the pain. However, shifting during a ritual will turn them feral.

I was asked if Alison could go through the ritual. The answer is no. The reason will be explored.

 **The Pack:**

The girls are not shape-shifters like in Twilight. They are Werewolves. The idea is that society has the completely wrong idea of what a 'Werewolf' actually is.

Can one of the girls in human form communicate with another in wolf form? No. Their telepathic link only works if both are in the same form. If trying to communicate in different forms, they need Brittany to translate.

Shouldn't Emily be better than Brittany at controlling water since she was a swimmer? Brittany has been a wolf longer than Emily. She also only focuses on water, even though she wants to work on the others. Emily is strong in both water and air, she is the perfect balance between the two, which will be important later.

While they are vey fast, it takes them a while to get up to top speed.

Do the girls all have some sort of gene that turned them into werewolves? No. There is no gene, but there is a reason which will be explored as to why each of them went through the change.

Can new members be added even though the pack is considered 'complete'? Yes and no. It'll make sense eventually.

Is there an Omega? If so, who? There is no Omega in the pack. The pack functions more as a family than a totem pole. The only rank is Alpha and other packs have a Beta but Alison has chosen not to have one so far. This might change. There is no 'weak link' in this pack. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and over time, they will learn how to work better as a team.

 **The Story:**

This story will have other supernatural creatures like Vampires, Hybrids and Ghosts. However, the girls have a duty to protect Rosewood from all threats, not just the supernatural ones. They will not be introduced until later in the story. The human threats are as much as a problem for the pack as the supernatural ones.

The girls will evolve in many different ways. Some things can't change, but many things will as they get used to their new lives.

Will the girls boyfriends know? You'll have to wait and see.

 **Stay tuned! Please let me know how you think the story is going! I'm happy to answer any and all questions. Love you all xx**


	5. Running Wild

Alison's silver Mercedes SUV pulled into the empty car park near the lake. Brittany exited the backseat first and went to stand on the edge of the car park, making sure there was nobody else about. Emily gave Alison a quick peck on the lips before stepping out also. Alison placed both hands on the wheel and let out a deep breath. This was a good thing, they were going to spend the day together as a pack. This was good for all of them.

She took another deep breath before opening the car door and stepping out and walking over to where Emily and Brittany were standing. She could tell by Brittany's tense shoulders that she was still scanning the area. Emily was standing quietly off to the side, not as tense as Brittany but her arms were folded. None of them could relax just yet.

Alison walked up behind Brittany slowly, before putting her hand on her shoulder. "Anything?"

Brittany twisted her mouth to one side, not turning to look at her. "There's a couple of hikers out near the waterfall but they're planning to leave soon. We've also got a group of underage drinkers at the camping ground, but they're too pissed to put a coherent thought together, let alone see a group of massive wolves without believing it's in their heads."

Alison frowned, making a mental note to be sure to check on those kids later. She would have Brittany keep tabs on them throughout the day and they would swing past there on their way back. "Near the Kissing Rock?"

Brittany shook her head. "Clear as can be around there. We should be able to roam free."

"How can you be sure?" Emily's voice piped up. They both turned to face her, puzzled looks on their faces. Emily's arms were still crossed and she seemed to be more anxious than before, even though Brittany has told them they were in the clear. "You can only read minds that are near you, right?"

"The campsite is within my range, it's only about nine hundred yards from here. My range is increasing as I get more used to how it works. I can still only read about a mile. I was using my ears to hear the hikers."

Emily looked down at her converse shoes. "Of course, your hearing is better than ours." She muttered more to herself than to the others, but with their hearing, they all heard anyway. It sounded like she was trying to reassure herself.

Alison narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend. Emily's mood aura was pure negative yellow, her fear and anxiety were overwhelming. This wasn't like her Em at all. She normally had much better control over her emotions than this. "Em? What is it? What's wrong?"

Emily shook her head several times as she rubbed her arms nervously. "All of us running around as wolves in the middle of the day with people around." She anxiously looked around. "They're too close. It's too much of a risk."

Now Alison was confused as hell. "A risk? Em, we've done this before? Who's at risk?"

Emily opened her mouth, but Brittany beat her to it. "Aria."

Alison wheeled around to look from Brittany to Emily, even more confused. She would ask about Brittany reading Emily's mind later. "Aria? Em, why would you-"

"She's too new." Emily cut her off. "Even if they're not close-close like Brittany said, she hasn't had enough practice shifting for us to be sure. We should move somewhere else, more secluded."

Alison went to respond, but first she decided to make sure that Emily wasn't concerned about anything else. Seeing as it appeared Brittany had already broken her rule about reading Emily's mind, Alison figured it couldn't hurt to use it to help her girlfriend.

She focused on where she knew Brittany was standing behind her, imagining a channel flowing from Brittany's mind to hers. **"Is that all that's going on here? She's not hiding something more behind this?"** She projected through the channel towards her sister.

Brittany's face remained the exact same. She was being overly careful in not giving away their secret communication to Emily. **"No. She's worried about Aria. The idea of the Ritual is scaring her and she's genuinely worried about Aria's control."**

 **"Where has this come from**?" Alison was curious. Emily had seemed fine all night last night and even though she had been a bit quiet this morning, it didn't seem like something was freaking her out.

Brittany frowned ever so slightly, trying to figure out how to respond **. "She was thinking about how she has never had the urge to harm a human, even when she was new. She knows that she has a gift for controlling her emotions and the emotions of others, so she's worried that she doesn't understand how we all felt when we first changed and what Aria might be feeling now**." Brittany paused. She always found it slightly annoying to try and translate people's thoughts. She never knew the right words **. "She believes that, as our physically strongest, she will be the first line of defence if Aria loses control. The fact that Aria is faster worries her. If she doesn't know what to look for because she never went through it like we did, she's worried she won't react fast enough."**

Alison processed the information before nodding to herself, stepping towards her girlfriend cautiously. "Em," She started tentatively. "Aria has great control, babe. Before the change, she was always a compassionate girl. She didn't lose that after transformation." She reasoned. "She may be faster than us babe, but there is five of us to help her and stop her. With Brittany to warn us if she's about to lose control and you to calm her down, she won't get past us." She placed her hands on Emily's shoulder before rubbing her hands up and down Emily's arms in a soothing motion.

Brittany stepped forward as well, taking Emily's hand in hers. "I don't think it'll be a problem, Em. Plus, we've done this with all the others to help them get better control over their shift. They all needed to learn to do this." Brittany gave her a sympathetic frown. "I know the fact that she is faster than all of us worries you. If it makes you feel better, I'll keep an eye on her and keep you updated?"

Emily turned to the younger girl with a frown. "Why are you reading our minds all of a sudden? I thought you didn't like to do that with us."

Brittany shrugged. "I don't," she replied matter-of-factly. "It feels like I'm invading what little privacy you guys have," she squeezed Emily's hand tighter. "but you were in distress so I figured I could make an exception and skip the guessing game so we could help you out. I promise I don't pick through your brains on a regular basis." She put her hands up in mock surrender, earning a giggle from Emily and Alison.

The reassurance that Brittany would keep an eye on Aria had eased Emily's anxiety greatly. She placed her arms over both their shoulders as they walked back to the car to grab the stuff out of the back before heading into the woods to find a nice spot to put their bags.

-x-

An hour later, the girls were all seated on a picnic blanket, enjoying their lunch of burgers and macaroni salad. Each girl had at least four burgers and a large dish of salad in front of them. Another side effect of being a werewolf was their appetite. Alison and Brittany had learned during their time before returning to Rosewood, that their supernatural metabolism required more than triple the food intake of an average human in order to function properly. If they did not eat enough to keep their bodies in decent condition, they would starve. A starved werewolf was different to a starved human in the sense that they would not die, but they would weaken to the point that their healing ability would slow down and almost come to a complete stop, along with their other supernatural abilities.

Without Alison's knowledge, Brittany had starved herself during their time in Arizona in order to test her abilities if she had gone without food. After three days without eating, she found that her strength and speed had dropped by around a tenth. Her element control was seriously hampered because she was unable to focus. Her senses had numbed to the point that even her superior hearing could not match Alison's. A cut to her upper bicep took thirteen minutes to heal instead of it's usual three minutes and communicating with Alison telepathically caused an irritating ring in her ears. She had also needed to sleep much more regularly, fatigue setting in much quicker without substantial nourishment.

She had continued to deteriorate until the two week mark, when Brittany had very nearly lost control in a crowded parking lot in Phoenix. Alison had been barely able to drag her away to a hidden cave in Tonto National Park before Brittany had exploded in Alison's arms, her golden brown wolf slicing the blonde across the face as she threw herself across the cave and into a rock wall. It was only thanks to Alison's healing that a permanent scar had not been left in what Brittany had called 'the most physically painful shifting' she had ever experienced.

Since then, Alison had made sure that they were all eating enough to keep them in top shape and took it very seriously if she caught anyone skipping meals for any reason. She also had an unofficial rule that if they were having a 'wolf day' as they called it, they had to all have full stomachs before shifting. All the girls had discovered that shifting was a highly emotional experience; changing into your wolf intensified your emotions even more than their human form emotions were already enhanced. It made if difficult to control yourself if you were angry or distressed and you shifted. Hanna was notorious for being unbearable to listen to telepathically if she was 'hangry' and in wolf form.

They had to be cautious of everything when trying to maintain the human charade in front of people, including their eating habits. School lunch time was the worst. Something would always manage to piss at least one of them off and they would be grumpy and irritable and only able to eat a small amount to appear a normal teenage girl. It just wouldn't look right if a girl the size of Aria was eating twice as much as the largest football players were. They enjoyed this time where there was no need to keep up the façade and they could be themselves.

It was a good day for it to, despite the sky mostly being covered by dark clouds. It was actually better if they had a 'wolf day' when the sky was overcast. It meant that less people were likely to go out for walks or take their kids to the river or go camping. There was less chance of them being seen or noticed. The cold weather did not affect them. They could be free.

"Hey, Britt" Spencer piped up after Emily had finished telling Hanna exactly what was in the burgers that made them taste so good. Brittany put her hand over her mouth to cover the bite of salad she had just eaten and nodded, letting Spencer know she had her attention. "I've always been sort of curious. How does the whole reading minds thing work?" Spencer asked nervously, she wasn't afraid Brittany would be offended by her question, she was just so used to having the answers as opposed to asking the questions. "I mean… Can you always hear everyone's thoughts? How have you switched yourself off to us?"

Brittany cocked her head to one side and frowned. "There's no off switch, Spence." She said plainly. "If there was, I would be using it every time I'm near any boy at Rosewood High." She giggled as the rest of the girls laughed out loud.

"Why? What's so bad about what them?" Hanna couldn't help herself.

Brittany gave a light-hearted shrug. "Hormonal teenage boys, going through puberty and sex ed. I dunno, Hanna. I'm sure they're just thinking about knitting patterns and buttermilk cookies." Everyone laughed out at that one.

Spencer was the first to stop laughing. "So how does it work? How can you give us privacy if you can still hear our thoughts?"

Brittany's smile faded but didn't disappear as her eyes looked up at the dark clouds above them, then back at the blanket they were all seated on. "It's hard to explain." She said quietly.

"Can you try?" Aria said curiously. Everyone was intently listening as Brittany tried to find the words.

She sighed loudly. "It's like standing in a crowded room with people talking all around you. It's just noise, you can't make out the words unless you're focusing on what a specific person is saying. It's the same with me. If I'm not focusing on a specific person, it's just noise. Whispers in the back of my head. If I want to listen to a specific person's thoughts, I have to focus on hearing what they're thinking."

"Do you ever get confused with what a person is thinking and what they're saying if they're talking?" Hanna asked, leaning forward slightly.

Brittany shook her head. "A thought has this… quality about it that makes it different from a spoken word. It sounds like it's coming from a phone speaker or something similar to that. Not an echo, more like a distortion. They just sound different to me."

"So… with us?" Spencer really wanted this question answered.

"I can still hear you. Your whispers are still there. If I tuned in, I could hear your thoughts with perfect clarity. I've just learned to ignore them."

"How?" Even Alison was curious now. Her and Brittany were the closest of sisters but even they had never discussed this.

Brittany gave a small smile. "The same way everyone else tunes out the sounds of the world when they're trying to study or read a book."

Emily clasped her hands in front of her before looking at the younger girl. Emily knew Brittany had read her mind to discover her worries about Aria earlier that day and, at Emily's request, had been periodically checking in on Aria throughout the day. She understood why Brittany had done it, she just wanted to know if Brittany was always in control of it. "Is.. There ever any temptation?"

Brittany shrugged again as she shook her head. "Not without cause."

"Without cause?!" Spencer's voice came out a little louder than she meant for it to.

"Let me put it this way." Brittany quickly defended. "I would never read your minds for fun or to invade your privacy. I would only read your mind if I felt it was necessary."

Aria knew without a shadow of a doubt that Brittany was telling the truth. When they were in wolf form, they had access to her mind also. She was a very serious person. She saw her gift as a curse as much as she did a blessing. Brittany often thought about some of the things she had heard that she wished she could un-hear. Brittany wasn't one to exploit her abilities that way for her own amusement.

-x-

"Final check, Britt?" Alison said as she shrugged off her jacket and stuffed it into her backpack. She removed the pendant bearing the pack mark from around her neck and placed it in the front pocket of her bag.

Brittany shook her head as she undid the buttons on her own wrist cuff with the pack mark. "Those kids at the camp ground are all passed out and there's nobody else in the area." She took off her socks and converse shoes and put them next to her own backpack by the rock.

Hanna smirked. "This is gonna be fun."

Alison stood back up to full height and let the tingle shoot from her spine down to her fingers and toes. She had been a werewolf the longest, so her shift was always the smoothest. As simply as going from sitting to standing, she was on all fours. She shook her head as if to shake the cobwebs away and adjusted to her new vision.

Everything was so much clearer like this, she felt like she could see a million crystals in a raindrop. Everything was so sharp and defined. It always managed to take her by surprise just how different the world seemed. It was like you had been blind your whole life and have only just seen the sun.

She heard a playful snap of teeth and turned to see Brittany's large blue/green eyes staring back at her own baby blue ones. Brittany gave her a playful nudge of her snout. Brittany's transition was not quite as smooth as Alison's, but wasn't too far off. They had both mastered being able to shift on the fly, something Emily was very close to achieving.

They watched with sympathy as Aria writhed on the floor for a moment before her grey and black wolf stood upright. Not quite as large as the rest of them, but still at least twice the size of a normal adult wolf.

 **"It gets easier, Aria**." Emily reassured her before trotting over to Alison and nuzzling her.

 **"Yeah**." Spencer agreed, blinking rapidly to help her new eyes adjust **. "The first six months sucked for all of us."**

Aria looked an the ground beneath her paws **. "Least it doesn't hurt. It just feels weird feeling all my bones relocating."**

Brittany sat on her haunches **. "Yeah, that can be pretty trippy. Least you were relaxed, it's ten times worse to shift when you're pissed."**

Everyone could hear her thinking about the 'incident' two days ago. She still didn't regret beating up the creep, but she was glad she had been stopped from killing him. She remembered when she had shifted in mid-air after Emily had kicked her in the gut. A horrible burning sensation had followed as she hit the ground. She had been too angry to worry about it at the time, but remembering it now made her never want to feel it again.

Alison mentally smirked at her **. "Then keep your temper in check**." Brittany bared her teeth at Alison. All the girls could tell it was just playful though **.** Alison paid no attention to it however **. "Let's run."**

They didn't bother running in formation, this was just fun. They snapped at each other's tails and pounced on each others backs as they raced through the forest. At one point, Aria sped off ahead of them, demonstrating her superior speed. She was very proud of the fact that she had an edge over the others. It made her feel like she was an equal to them despite their larger size.

 **"We've never thought of you as beneath any of us, Aria**." Hanna's voice rang through her mind as they all came to a stop. Everyone had heard what Aria had been thinking and all their thoughts reflected the same sentiment. She was one of them, just as important to this pack as Alison was, as all of them were.

Aria let her thoughts show her gratitude **. "Thanks guys**." She said genuinely. They all padded forward to form a circle around her and nudge her with their snouts, it was the closest thing to a group hug they were able to give right now. They were all content in the closeness they felt. They were truly a family. It was a true moment of bonding for all of them.

Until the gunshot rang through the air.

 **-x-**

 **A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Sorry to do that but it was necessary. So what do you guys think is gonna happen next? Who do you think is going to go through the Ritual? I'll be AMAZED if you can guess both of them correctly. Next chapter we've got element training, the girls back at school and a fist fight and Emison finally getting a moment alone! Also we will be introduced to the one and only Ezra Fitz and you'll get an idea of his role in the story!**

 **Q &A: **

**Q: Why is Brittany the one who can read minds?**

 **A: Brittany is handicapped in element control in a way the others aren't. In planning this story, I felt like she needed an equalizer to ensure she was still as useful to the pack as everyone else.**

 **Q: Shouldn't Brittany be the Beta since she transformed second?**

 **A: The girls will learn more about their species and lore in a few chapters. Alison became the Alpha because she transformed first and she has the choice of who the Beta will be. Emily is considered the "Matriarch" by the girls, but she's not officially the Beta. I feel like Brittany wouldn't be a good choice because she's got a temper.**

 **Q: Will we learn more about the girls transformations?**

 **A: Yeah. There will be flashbacks for all of them that will show the moment they changed.**

 **Q: We haven't seen any element control yet. Why?**

 **A: They haven't needed it yet. We'll see them practice and experiment. When the supernatural enemies come into the story, they'll need to use their element control a hell of a lot.**

 **Q: Is the pack in Arizona important to the story?**

 **A: They're worth remembering.**

 **Q: How long have each of the girls been wolves?**

 **A: Alison has been a wolf for over two years. Brittany is just over one year. Emily is closing in on ten months. Hanna is nine months. Spencer is six months and Aria is new at only two months.**

 **Q: How old are the girls?**

 **A: They are all around 19 except for Brittany who is 17.**

 **Feel free to PM me with any questions you may have! Please remember to leave a review and let me know how I'm doing!**


	6. An Update

**Hey Guys**

 **So I know this chapter is taking me a while to get out. It's much longer than my previous ones (seriously a single flashback is over 1000 words) and I know there have been a lot of requests about my other stories. I promise I'm getting around to all of it. I'm trying to write this chapter perfectly because it's a HUGE chapter for the storyline and I want to make it as good for you guys as I possibly can.**

 **(I'm also binge watching Glee because I'm head over heels in love with Heather Morris but that's totally irrelevant. Maybe I'll start doing Brittana fiction as well?)**

 **Stick with me guys! I'm getting there I swear! Please PM me with any questions you have and please let me know if you like this story so far!**


	7. Unseen

_Emily's feet floated across the floor as she and Brittany tested out their new choreography . It was something they had been working on for several weeks now in their spare time. This was their thing. It was their bonding time. They both enjoyed it and found it was a positive activity for both of them._

 _Emily had been a dancer since her childhood. She had taken lessons once a week and only stopped when she took an interest in swimming. Brittany had never taken dancing lessons, her father couldn't have cared less and her mother could not afford it, but she had a natural talent for it. She had managed to teach herself the guitar though and she had a nice singing voice. Since coming to Rosewood and settling down, the three of them had agreed that Brittany needed several outlets for her energy and emotions. It was the only way to ensure that she could be a productive member of the town and the pack._

 _They could perform complex routines with no difficulty, thanks to their enhanced strength and stamina. Emily was a great choreographer, Brittany had input into their routines too but Emily loved to find a good song and choreograph a fitting dance to go with it. She was happy to admit she was a nerd about it. What Spencer was to academics, Emily was to dance, a genius._

 _They'd converted the shed on the DiLaurentis property into a gym and dance studio upon their return, since Ken had no need for it anymore to store his files or his car. It had been split into two rooms. The gym had various weight machines and a set of chin-up bars nailed to the ceiling. The other side of the room was set up with reinforced punching and kicking bags along with a large square of padding taped to the floor where they practiced fighting with one another._

 _The dance studio had been fitted with wooden floors and floor length mirrors. They hadn't bothered to install a Barre because they didn't need to warm up and neither of them were interested in ballet. There were two speakers mounted in the corners above the mirror that their phones could connect to. If Brittany wasn't playing video games in her room, she was down here._

 _She stood behind Emily and off to her right as they went through their routine. It was contemporary, Brittany had chosen 'Hello' by Evanescence and they were showing Alison. She was the only person allowed to watch them dance. This routine had them also on the floor a bit. Alison was mesmerised by how perfectly in sync they were, wether they were on the floor or standing upright._

 _Dancing gave Emily time to think. She let the feelings of the song and their dance flow through her. She was the peacekeeper of the group, and the most emotionally stable; but that didn't mean she didn't have her own worries, her own fears and doubts. There was so much that was unknown about their species and their lives. She had always liked the security of having a plan for her life. She had always pictured herself as a college swim coach with a loving family with children and a dog. When she had transformed, that stability had been ripped away from her._

 _She wasn't unhappy with her life as a werewolf, not really. She found it fulfilling. They did a lot of good. They had rescued people from burning buildings, prevented crimes, removed dangerous people and so much more. She had a tight family with the pack and she had a good relationship with her parents still even though she didn't live with them. She just felt like there was something missing in her life. She loved Alison with all her heart, they were mated. Which meant they were together forever. Even though 'imprinting' was just a myth, it wasn't all that far from the truth. When a wolf met the person they were destined to be with, they would be drawn to them like a magnet._

 _It wasn't like you see the person and you instantly know they are your soul mate, that was just nonsense. Fate, destiny or whatever it was would keep them involved in the other's life. It was why Emily would always follow Alison and defend her even when she was being mean to their friends or bullying their classmates. It's why Emily was the hardest one for Alison to leave behind. It was why Emily loved Alison so completely even after the blonde had coldly rejected her in the locker room so many years ago. Of course, neither of them knew it at the time, but looking back, it actually made a lot of sense to the both of them. It was like a ribbon bound them together, it would stretch, but never break. After their mating though, the ribbon had turned to a steel cable._

 _The song came to an end and Alison brought her hands together in applause, smiling softly at her sister and girlfriend. Brittany gave her a shy smile while Emily switched off the music, Alison noticed she had a thoughtful look on her face._

 _She cocked her head to the side, a frown on her face. "Em?" Her lover's head snapped to look at her upon hearing her name. "What is it?" She moved to Emily's side, taking both of her tanned hands in her own._

 _Emily looked out the window of the studio as she spoke, "Remember when you guys told me about the pack in Arizona you met?" They both nodded. "How long did you stay with them?"_

 _"A few weeks," Alison ran a hand up and down Emily's arm before moving a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Why?"_

 _Emily bit her lip nervously, now looking at the floor. "Did they tell you anything about female wolves and… c-children?"_

 _Behind them, the sip that Brittany had just taken from her water bottle made an encore appearance as she spluttered and gagged after spitting it up, caught by surprise by Emily's question. Upon seeing the glare Alison was shooting her, Brittany quickly recovered and leaned against the wall, arms crossed and expression serious._

 _Alison turned back to her mate, bringing a hand up to cup her face. "What do you mean?"_

 _"Can we even have children? I don't want to have children for at least another ten years but I want to have a family with you eventually. Would they be like us? How does it even work? Can we-"_

 _Alison brought a hand up to silence her girl before she worked herself up into an accidental shift. That was not something they needed right now. She wished that Emily was able to manipulate her own emotions the way she could with others. She could control them pretty well, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling them. It was only thanks to Emily's control that she wasn't crying right now. "Em, slow down. Yes we can have children. The pack in Arizona had one female who has given birth to several children, they were human but slightly faster and stronger than regular humans, nothing like us though. I have no idea how it works, but I have faith Spencer will find answers eventually. You don't need to worry about it just now, okay?" She reassured her in her most soothing voice. "Our focus now has to be on our pack. Aria needs as much help as we can give her."_

 _It had only been four days ago that Aria had returned home from Europe. She had transformed mere hours after arriving in town while walking over to Spencer's. Spencer had sent out an SOS text after opening her door to a naked and crying Aria and the girls had all raced over. She was staying at the Hastings house for a few days, but had asked for time to process. Alison had been happy to grant that request, they were still waiting on news from Spencer._

 _Aria's ability to create illusions in people's minds had been discovered while embracing Spencer's sister, Melissa. Upon wrapping her arms around the shorter girl, Melissa had seen herself and her sister hugging Aria goodbye in the very same room they were standing in one year ago. Brittany had whispered to Spencer that Aria had been thinking about that exact memory at the time and Spencer quickly put it together. They had tested the theory on Spencer's father later that night, Brittany confirming that he was seeing exactly what Aria wanted him to see. Seeing as Spencer's family did not know the pack's secret, they simply believed them to be vivid flashbacks._

 _Brittany spoke up, pulling Alison and Emily out of their memory of that night. "It's interesting how each member of our pack is so different with a unique set of skills, isn't it?"_

 _Alison gave her a soft smile. "We all have a role to play, Britt."_

 _Brittany just nodded while Emily looked confused. "What do you mean?" She muttered and Alison turned to face her again._

 _Alison gave her a quick peck before pulling away to point at herself. "The Alpha," She pointed at Brittany, "The Protector," She gave Emily a gentle poke in the chest, "The Peacekeeper," She pointed behind her in the direction of the door to the shed, "Hanna is the Hunter. Spencer is the Nightstalker, and Aria is the Witch."_

 _Brittany nodded. "Witch fits her. Those illusions are fucking trippy." She said with a smirk._

 _Emily raised an eyebrow at her, "but they don't work on us? How do you know they're trippy?"_

 _Brittany gave her a look that told her the answer should be obvious. "I can see them in her target's mind. Freakin' scary."_

 _Emily nodded with a shrug of her shoulders, she should have worked that out. She turned back to Alison to ask the question on her mind. "What is Spencer again? A Nightstalker?"_

 _Alison understood her confusion. "They're like a type of werewolf specialist, I guess. We all have our unique skills that work for different situations, but Spencer's are especially specific," She pulled Emily over to the exercise balls and they both took a seat. "A Nightstalker is what we call a black wolf who specialises in stealth. They're able to sneak up on their prey and their fur allows them to blend into the night, making them hard to spot. There hasn't been many of them in known history, and none of them can screw with their minds to make themselves invisible like Spencer can. That's just a bonus."_

 _"Basically," Brittany took over because she decided Alison was shit at explaining it. She had heard it from the Arizona Alpha as well. "If there's a situation like a hostage or something else that needs a quiet approach; as opposed to kicking in the door like we normally do or charging in, Spencer can do it better than any of us. Hell, she could creep up on US if she wanted to."_

 _Emily frowned as she thought this over. If she were Spencer, she would feel a bit bummed that her gifts were so specific. Her own gifts were useful in many situations._

 _Brittany was apparently feeling nosey today. "Don't feel too sad for her, Em. All of our skills are useful in their different ways. I have a feeling there will come a day when we will need all our skills."_

 _-x-_

The sound of the gunshot startled them all.

Brittany leapt in to shield Alison, putting her body between the Alpha and the direction the sound had come from. Spencer and Emily lowered into an aggressive stance and growled, baring their canine jaws. Aria, being new and Hanna, being Hanna, jumped about a foot in the air with a surprised yelp.

 _ **"**_ **What the fuck**?!" Spencer's voice rang through all their heads.

Brittany, who was still shielding Alison, turned her head to growl at them all in warning **. "Hit the deck! Now!"**

None of them needed to be told twice. They all lay down on their stomachs, placing their heads on their front paws and getting as low as possible. Alison and Hanna moved to lie in a nearby bush to try and help hide their bright coloured fur.

A twig snapping dead ahead caught all their attention, along with heavy footsteps that sounded to be heading in their direction.

 **"Britt?"** Alison called out to her sister.

 **"Deer Hunter. Just over that hill there. He missed his shot and thinks the buck ran this way! I don't think he'll have an issue hunting us instead, and if he gets a look at our size…"** Brittany didn't need to finish the sentence. They all knew. They were all at least twice the size of a normal adult wolf. Alison was larger still as the Alpha. A human would need only one look at them to know something was not right.

Alison needed to get them back to the rock so they could change and get dressed. She had no idea what would happen if this hunter saw them. She couldn't take that risk. She had no idea how to get rid of him long enough to get them away, he would see them coming for sure.

Well, maybe not…

 **"Spencer, we need to get rid of him. Send him the other way, or put him out for a moment. You've got the best chance to not be seen."**

The black wolf gave one sharp nod. **"Can do."** She turned and took off towards the approaching footsteps.

Alison turned to the rest of her pack. Each was looking at her expectantly. She fixed her gaze on her sister. **"Britt, take point. We need to know if any of those campers are awake."**

 **"You got it, boss."**

Aria could be heard worrying. She was scared that Spencer would fail or that the hunter would see them all running away. What would they do if he did see them? Would they have to kill him? What about the ritual? She couldn't go through that.

Emily put a stop to that runaway train by padding over and giving Aria a reassuring nudge with her snout and a gentle lick. **"It won't come to that, Aria."**

 **"Plus,"** Brittany added. **"We would totally suck if we made the baby wolf do the deed and suffer the ritual."**

" **Have some faith in me, Aria."** Spencer had decided to join the conversation as well despite currently creeping up on their hunter just out of eyeshot of the others. She was only a few steps behind him.

She closed her eyes and gave herself a moment to centre herself. She listened to the sounds around her. She could hear the faint breeze rustling the leaves above her. There was a nest of birds nearby, along with a speeding lunatic on the road nearly a mile away. She took a deep breath and, as she did, felt the fog clouding the hunter's mind. He could not see her now, even if he was looking right at her.

During her time researching werewolves, the real stuff not the folk lore trash, Spencer had developed a theory. She believed that each of them had carried over a particular trait from their time as a human into their werewolf lives.

Alison had always been a good judge of character, and now her gift reflected that in being able to read a person's aura. Emily had always been very sensitive to the feelings and emotions of the people around her and her kind and caring nature was a soothing presence. Now she was able to feel and control them in a literal sense. Brittany, growing up, had to be able to predict her father's actions in order to keep herself safe from his wrath. Now she had been gifted with the ability to read the minds of people to be able to easily identify a threat. Hanna had always been searching for love and acceptance from the people around her. She had been obsessed with the latest trends and fashion in the hopes that people would love her more. Now she could control that. And nobody could tell a better lie than Aria, and now she possessed the means to manifest them into literal illusions.

Throughout Spencer's life, she was always playing second fiddle to Melissa. Melissa was the apple of her parent's eye while Spencer was the inferior younger sister who could never live up to their expectations. She had, her whole life, been practically invisible to them. Since her dramatic change after a nasty pill overdose, Spencer had found a different life. She knew she was valued in her pack. She was the one who had been sent to distract this person because she _could_ and the others _couldn't_. In Alison's pack, she felt something she had never felt before, she felt _needed._

 **"Spencer,"** Alison called to her. Spencer could see that the others were ready to move. **"Now."**

Spencer nodded to herself. It was go time.

She turned to look at the hunter, who was several paces ahead with his back to her. She turned to face the exact opposite position she knew the others were about to start running in and took off as fast as her legs could carry her. She made sure to run through shrubs and brush against branches as she went, to generate noise even though he couldn't see her.

The hunter heard the rustling and turned to face the direction he thought it was coming from. He saw the rustling leaves heading up the hill and broke into a run to try and catch sight of his buck.

Spencer made sure to move fast enough to be a decent way ahead of him, but no so fast that he couldn't see her movement. Once she was sure he was far enough away from the others, she projected to them. **"Go! Go now!"**

 **-x-**

 **A/N: I've had to split this chapter into three parts because of how much is about to go down! So we'll be picking up with the dash back to camp, Brittany running into her father and first day back at school!**

 **Sorry it's been so long. I've been dealing with a lot of writers block but working my way through it now. I know this story might seem to be slow to get into the real action but I promise it will be worth it!**

 **Please leave a review as it really helps me know how you guys want the story to go!**


	8. I'm sorry

Hey Everyone.

So first of all, I would like to apologise for my radio silence and lack of updating. Life has been hard.

My grandfather passed away a couple of weeks ago and there has been a lot of trouble with my older sibling which has lead to them practically disowning me. So I've been in a pretty rough place and have been needing therapy and diet enforcement. As such, I haven't felt like doing a whole lot of writing recently and I feel like I have let you guys down.

But I am getting better and am starting to write again. I promise you that ALL of my stories will be completed, I just ask that you guys be patient with me and understand that it may take me some time. I don't just want to throw something together that isn't up to the standards you deserve and upload it just to not go too long without an update. I do have an anxiety about losing readers because of a lack of updates so I hope you guys will stick with me! You have all been so amazing!

Thankyou so much for all of the support and I hope you guys will understand and stick with me while I work to make these stories the best they can be! xx


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